


Jeju Island

by Jee_Eun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: F/M, Inspired by Shadowhunters (TV), M/M, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing, shadowhunters au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23192329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jee_Eun/pseuds/Jee_Eun
Summary: Jeju Island hadn't seen magic in a long time.  Without any demons and downworlders to defend mundanes from, Jaehyun has been entrusted with the boring task of guarding a portal that no one uses.  After an attack that leaves the portal destroyed and the Seoul Institute in disarray, Jaehyun is moved to Seoul to help protect it.With a new evil arising on the island and the only shadowhunter that can help long gone, Jaemin has to learn how to exist in a world much bigger than his own.I'm sorry, I suck at descriptions.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we start, I just wanted to warn everyone that this is based off of the Shadowhunter Chronicle books not the TV Show.   
> Also, for anyone reading this in the future, I'm disregarding anything canon published after Chain of Gold because at the time of writing, that is the latest book published.

Jaehyun spent his whole life on Jeju Island. He had been born there, raised there, and continued to live there as an adult. The small house he lived in was heavily warded and no one aside from him ever came and went. At least, not since his parents died. 

The job of guarding the Jeju Island portal was a boring one and he lived out his days in isolation from the rest of the Shadow World. There were no other shadowhunters on Jeju Island and there were no downworlders either. There wasn’t an entrance to Faerie and demons rarely made their way to the island. The only reason he lived on the island was the permanent portal that he was entrusted with guarding. 

Even though no one ever actually used said portal. If someone was going to leave Korea, they would use the Seoul Portal, not the one on Jeju. It was meant to be used as a quick escape if necessary, one in the Northern part of the country and one in the Southern part of the country. 

Personally, Jaehyun thought it would make more sense to have the portal in Busan or Daegu. Some place bigger with more to do, where they could build another institute around it. Some place on the mainland where there was easier access to it. However, he wasn’t in charge and was thus doomed to isolation on Jeju. 

For the most part, it wasn’t a bad gig. He got paid generously by the Clave and he was able to go surfing on the island and spend his time doing pretty much anything he wanted. He just had to be on the lookout for suspicious activity and make sure no one unauthorized used the Portal. 

When Jaehyun had been younger, when he had first been entrusted with his job right after his parents had died, he had been on constant alert for anyone who might want to use the Portal. As the years passed, he quickly realized no one was going to use the Portal and quickly hired a warlock to help him update the wards to alert him if someone was coming. 

That was probably why he was so astonished to feel that someone was breaking into his house when he was just reaching the beach after surfing. A sense of dread eased its way into his stomach. 

He ran home, abandoning his surfboard and fishing his stele out of his swim trunks from where it was pressed firmly into his side by his surf suit. He quickly marked himself and grabbed a seraph blade from where it was hidden in one of the stilts that held his house up from the unforgiving ocean floods and hurricane rain. 

He crept up the stairs of his house, expecting someone from the Seoul Institute or another friendly face. He was not expecting the head of the Seoul Institute, Choi Jinri, to be on the floor of his house, bleeding out with a tall woman above her, knife gleaming in her hand. 

Jaehyun knew what he had to do. Grabbing his emergency bag, he quickly drew the runes he needed onto the wood of his house and ignited the hellfire his house was built upon for this very purpose. 

“Ithuriel,” he whispered, naming his seraph blade as he crept up behind the tall woman who raised her knife for one final blow. 

He stabbed the seraph blade through her stomach. 

“Did you think that your little seraph blade would kill me, nephilim?” the woman turned to face him, reaching behind her and pulling the seraph blade out. 

“Impossible,” Jaehyun breathed out, eyes wide. The woman started to stalk towards him, knife raised menacingly. 

“Oh, it’s completely possible,” she smirked as Jinri lunged at her legs. 

“RUN! WARN THE CLAVE! DESTROY THE PORTAL!” she roared, the hellfire started to burn around them. 

“ENOUGH!” the woman snarled, ripping her hands off of her but Jaehyun was already gone. He quickly finished the runes carved into the door by the kitchen before opening it and running through, slamming the door shut behind him. 


	2. Hellfire

When Jaemin thought of his childhood, he thought of Renjun. When he was four, he had gotten lost in the park and Renjun helped him find his way back to his parents. Ever since, Renjun had been there. When he was younger, he thought that Renjun was the coolest and idolized him. Then, when he was seven, Renjun moved from Jeju to Seoul. 

After that, he stopped seeing Renjun. He never came back, never visited. It was like he had disappeared. Looking back, he could understand why his parents had been so worried about him. A college aged boy showing interest in their son who was still in elementary school was worrying enough without their son idolizing the boy. Not to mention all the stories Renjun had told him of faeries. After he moved, Jaemin had never expected to see Renjun again. As a kid, he had hoped that one day Renjun would show up at his door to play with him again but by the time he was 12, he understood that Renjun was never coming back. 

When Jaemin thought of his life after Renjun, he thought of Donghyuck and Yangyang. Throughout elementary school, Jaemin’s best friend had been Yangyang. Yangyang had been funny, if not a little odd. He could see things other people couldn’t and thought that Renjun was a faerie of some sort. After middle school, Yangyang got accepted into some prestigious academy in Germany and moved away. 

Donghyuck, as bright as the sun, had been his best friend all throughout school. From Pre-K to 10th Grade, they had been the bestest of friends. That is, until Donghyuck ran away to Seoul. A part of Jaemin had been so resentful to Donghyuck for leaving back then. Renjun left him, Yangyang left him, and now Donghyuck had left him. 

When Jaemin thought of life after Donghyuck’s desertion, he thought of the beach. He had never taken much interest in taking over his dad’s surf shop until everyone he loved had left him. He had never taken much interest in surfing in general until after everyone had left. 

Surfing became his escape from the rest of the world, a way to get rid of his anger and strain his body without hurting himself or those around him. It was also how he met Jung Jaehyun. Jaehyun, despite only being three years older than him, was the island’s local recluse. He was on friendly terms with everyone who lived on the island but wasn’t very social. So it was a surprise to pretty much everyone when he took Jaemin under his wing. 

That was probably why Jaemin was the only person to notice, much less  _ know  _ that Jaehyun was missing. Jaemin had been worried when Jaehyun hadn’t shown up at their normal spot to surf together and anxious when the older hadn’t picked up his phone or answered any of his texts. Then he found the older’s surfboard. When Jaemin had made his way to Jaehyun’s house, he immediately knew something was wrong. The entire house was burned down. Nothing left, not even bones. 

“Jesus Jaehyun, what did you get yourself into?” Jaemin muttered to himself as he poked through the remains of the house. There were lumps of what looked like melted metal, probably pipes or some sort of appliance, buried in the ashes. As he continued to poke through the stuff, he came across the remains of a doorway. It had fallen but it was perfectly preserved from the fire. When he brushed the ash off of the door, he could see the black marks burned into the wood. 

“Put your hands up!” a voice called out to him. He slowly stood up, turning around and putting his hands up by his head. 

“I’m just looking for my friend,” Jaemin said, facing who he thought would be a police officer. It wasn’t. “Yangyang?”

“Jaemin?” Yangyang looked stunned to see him. 

“Yangyang, what’s going on?” a girl appeared next to Yangyang, her bright red hair tied back in a ponytail. 

“We know each other, he doesn’t have the Sight or anything though so I don’t know why he’s here,” Yangyang explained. 

“I’m looking for my friend, Jaehyun,” Jaemin stated but went ignored as the red haid regarded Yangyang.

“Be careful Yangyang. You’re only here because you know Jeju, otherwise you’ll get pulled from the case just like Jaehyun,” she stated before turning and poking around the ruins some more. 

“You know Jaehyun? Is he alright?” Jaemin asked. 

“He’s fine. Go home Jaemin, this doesn’t concern you,” Yangyang sighed. 

“Jaehyun’s my friend, of course it concerns me,” Jaemin gaped at the boy that used to be one of his best friends. 

“I’ll tell him you’re doing fine, now go,” Yangyang lightly shoved him, “Don’t make this harder than it already is.” 

“Fine,” Jaemin stomped away. 

“Joy, you know that you’re not going to find a body here. Hellfire burns everything,” Yangyang sighed. 

Park Sooyoung, or Joy as she prefered to be called, had volunteered to be his partner for this mission. She had been childhood friends with Jaehyun before her family had been relocated to Busan and was familiar with the island. It was rumoured that she and Jaehyun had nearly been parabatai but the Clave didn't allow it for some reason. 

“I’m not looking for a body,” Joy continued to poke around the ashes, “I’m looking for the remains of the portal and the seraph blade. Neither should have burned in the hellfire.” 

“Why?” Yangyang asked, narrowing his eyes at the red head.

“We need to get rid of the remains of the portal and seraph blade before the mundie police get involved and see if we can find any trace of the woman that attacked the Seoul Institute,” Joy kicked up a pile of ash, grinning triumphantly when a Seraph blade, stained with golden blood, revealed itself. 

“What makes you think that the mundie police are going to get involved?” Yangyang asked, “This wasn’t the work of demons. Demons rarely come to Jeju Island anyways.”

“You knew Jaehyun as a kid. Everyone on the island did. He didn’t make an effort to hide himself because his family was banished there by the Clave, it didn’t matter to him. I’m sure that someone is going to notice that he’s gone missing and call the police. For fuck’s sake, that mundie that was just here noticed already,” Joy pointed out, “Besides, everyone knows that demons and downworlders alike used to flock to Jeju until around 30 years ago.” 

“Wait, what?” Yangyang glanced at her. 

“I forgot that you weren’t born a Shadowhunter. There used to be a Jeju Institute, that’s the land that Jaehyun’s house was built on. But around 200 years ago, there was a sharp decline in demon activity. In fact, the demons  _ fled _ from Jeju. No one knew why. Next to leave were the vampires, then the wolves. The High Warlock left and no one wanted to fill his position. The Fair Folk stayed the longest but eventually even they had to leave. They closed the entrances to Faerie on the Island roughly 13 years ago,” Joy explained with a shrug. 

Joy continued to wander around the ruins, kicking up piles of ash, searching for any other seraph blades and the remains of the portal. Yangyang followed her example, wandering around searching for anything they should take before the police showed up. 

“Yangyang, get over here,” Joy called out. 

Joy had stopped wandering, staring at something on the ground.

“What is it?” Yangyang asked before realizing what it was. A picture of Jaehyun and Jaemin, grinning with surfboards in hand and the beach behind them.

“I thought Hellfire burns everything,” Yangyang muttered.

“It  _ does _ ,” Joy agreed.

“Then how-” Yangyang glanced at the photo on the ground.

“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about this.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally Joy wasn't going to have a big part in this but the more I wrote, the more I liked her character in this universe and I decided to give her a bigger role. Also, when describing her hair, I was thinking of the red that she sported during Red Flavor not their other comebacks.
> 
> Also, let it be known that I know nothing about the Korean school system aside from how harsh and strict it is so in this universe, all schools follow the same basic model.
> 
> Edit 05/31/2020: I changed the time that Yangyang moved away from after elementary school to after middle school.


	3. Council

_ “The ocean is cold, harsh, and unforgiving. It is capable of sustaining great life and beauty but that doesn’t mean that it can’t harm you. It can and will pull you in and kill you. Being a surfer means that you have to be strong, not just physically, but mentally as well,” Jaehyun told the 16 year old boy in front of him.  _

_ “Then why go in it at all?” Na Jaemin asked, “Why bother going into the ocean when it can kill you?” _

_ “Everything can kill you, remember that. We go into the ocean for many reasons, to travel, to fish, to swim, and in our case: to surf. I’m telling you that the ocean is scary and can kill you so you know what you’re getting into,” Jaehyun explained, “You need to know that the ocean can kill you and that the ocean is scary before you start to surf.” _

_ “But the instructor at the shop didn’t tell me any of this,” Jaemin protested. _

_ “I’m not the instructor at the shop now am I? Being a surfer is much more than physical strength like he’d want you to believe. Being a surfer requires great mental strength as well. The strength to not give up no matter how many times you fall and the strength to not give up when you fall off your board and the tide is pulling you under,” Jaehyun had looked straight into Jaemin’s eyes then, “Being a surfer requires that you have the will to live and the will to never give that up.”  _

_ “Then why doesn’t Mr. Ahn tell us that?” Jaemin inquired.  _

_ Jaehyun laughed. _

Jaehyun woke up to sunlight hitting his face. He rolled over. Eight o’clock. Heaving a great sigh, he willed himself to get up out of bed. 

_ Jaemin. _

He had willed himself not to think about the boy while he awaited trial. He knew that he couldn’t contact him now and it was better for Jaemin to think him dead than know that he was alive and come looking for him. Especially since he was in New York which was across an entire ocean and a fucking continent. 

New York. With the option of Idris and the Glass City gone for Shadowhunters, the next best capital was apparently New York. Personally, he would have thought the next best location to be London but Alec Lightwood lived in New York and he seemed to be determined to make that the capital of all Shadowhunters. 

And so here he was, waiting for the Clave meeting to begin so he could give testimony by the Mortal Sword of what had happened. He quickly started to get ready. 

“Jaehyun,” a voice called for him from the doorway of his borrowed room. He turned to see Lee Taeyong standing in the doorway. 

In Korea, Taeyong was regarded as something like a legend. He came from the Lee family, most of whom were regarded quite well. Lee Hyukjae and Lee Donghae were parabatai who fought in the Dark War together and Lee Soonkyu helped save the Seoul Institute from a demon attack. Taeyong’s older brother, Taemin, was a centurion who helped in the fight against the Cohort. Taeyong himself helped in the Downworlder Alliance in Seoul, becoming a representative for the Institute of sorts. He was well respected in the Downworld and was considered a great candidate to become Head of the Seoul Institute now that Jinri was dead. 

“Yeah?” Jaehyun regarded Taeyong calmly. Taeyong was handsome, unbelievably so. Many people in Seoul believed that he had some faerie blood in him but no one was ever able to prove it so during the Cold Peace, he had remained. 

“The Council is ready for you,” Taeyong stated. 

Jaehyun nodded, “A moment please, to finish getting ready.” 

“Of course,” Taeyong nodded and shut the door. Jaehyun quickly finished getting dressed. 

When he left his room, he was surprised to find Taeyong still waiting for him. The older boy shrugged with a sheepish smile, “I’m tasked with bringing you to the Council.” 

They walked in silence through the halls of the New York Institute. The new Council Chamber stood in the Sanctuary, on unholy ground so that vampires may bring testimony in front of the Council. It was grand, as Sanctuaries normally are, but now filled with more than just a mere bench and fountain. 

The New York Institute’s Sanctuary had been converted into a Council Chamber that rivalled the one in Alicante. The grand fountain that once was the centerpiece of the room had been restored to its full glory but was outshined by the newer features. Around the fountain were several raised benches giving the illusion of an amphitheater with a large pedestal and podium to the left of the entrance. In front of the podium and before the fountain lay a singular bench where one who may be summoned to give testimony may rest. 

That was Jaehyun’s spot now. The benches were filled with Shadowhunters from all over the globe today. Shadowhunters of all different races and colors, staring right at him. 

Jaehyun felt his breath catch in his throat.

“Jaehyun of Jeju Island, please come forward,” Alec Lightwood beckoned from his spot at the Podium. To his right sat Kwon BoA, the new Inquisitor whose position was the only reason she survived the attack on the Seoul Institute. 

“The Mortal Sword,” a Silent Brother glided forward, the Soul Sword in his hands. 

Jaehyun allowed the Sword to be placed on his hands. He could feel the power of the sword, like millions of fish hooks digging into his skin bringing the truth out of him.

“What happened on June 6th?” Alec Lightwood asked. 

“I was out on the beach, surfing, when I was alerted to an intruder at my home,” Jaehyun stated. 

“And what did you do when you were alerted?” Alec asked, his voice firm. 

“I returned to my house. I grabbed a seraph blade from underneath my house and entered to find Choi Jinri bleeding out on the floor with a woman on top of her with a knife,” Jaehyun’s voice shook with the force of the sword that lay in his grasp, he willed himself not to grip at it. 

“And what happened next?” BoA, this time, asked. Her eyes shone with interest. 

“I ignited the hellfire and stabbed the woman with my seraph blade before she could kill Jinri. However, the woman turned to face me and took the seraph blade out,” Jaehyun kept his eyes on Alec and BoA, “The woman said something to me then. She said, ‘Did you really think that your little seraph blade could kill me, nephilim?’”

Whispers broke out throughout the room. People gasping and asking what creature could survive being stabbed with a seraph blade. People stating that he must be mistaken. 

“Silence!” Alec Lightwood’s voice thundered above everyone else’s, “Silence, and let Jaehyun finish.” 

“I paused for a moment. I was shocked and then Jinri got up and lunged at her legs before she had the chance to attack me. Jinri yelled at me to run, to warn the Clave and destroy the Portal. So I did,” Jaehyun finished. 

Immediately more whispers broke out. People calling him a coward for leaving Jinri. 

“Silence!” Alec called out. The Consul regarded him, his blue eyes speaking something that he wasn’t sure he understood. 

BoA stood up. Jaehyun held his breath, waiting for his recommended punishment. For a moment, she was silent, simply staring at him. Then, she spoke, “There were no laws broken by Jaehyun Jung. He was following the orders of his Head of Institute. In the meantime, we have larger matters to attend to. We must vote in a new Head of the Seoul Institute and decide on a course of action against this woman. We must also decide on what to do with Jaehyun now that the reason for his family’s banishment has been destroyed.”

Jaehyun let out a breath of relief as the Council Chamber erupted into chaos. 

“SILENCE!” a new voice called out, Clary Fairchild. Though she was small in stature, she was intimidating and radiated power. The effect of her voice was immediate, the room dropping into silence. People returned to their seats as Clary remained standing, her red hair a fiery mane, turning her into the lion she was. For a moment Jaehyun was reminded of a painting he had once seen of Charlotte Branwell, the first woman Consul and a distant ancestor of Clary’s. 

“If BoA says that there are no laws broken, then there are no laws broken. As she said before, we have other matters at hand, many of which are much more pressing,” Clary’s voice echoed in the room before she sat down next to her boyfriend (or was it fiancé, Jaehyun couldn’t remember), Jace Herondale.

“Jaehyun, if you can, please describe this woman,” BoA instructed. 

“She was tall, roughly the same height as me but very slim. Almost supermodel skinny. Her skin was tanned and her hair a brilliant gold. I didn’t quite see her eyes but her skin was covered in all of these scars. They were all over her skin. Some of them looked like they were from weapons and others looked like the ones on our skin from runes. She also wasn’t harmed by my seraph blade when I stabbed her,” Jaehyun described. 

Alec and BoA exchanged a look. 

“The Iron Sisters have examined the seraph blade found in the ruins of the house. They found nothing wrong with the blade aside from the fact that it was covered in some sort of ichor we are unfamiliar with. The Silent Brother’s are looking into it as we speak,” Alec stated, “In the meantime, we will keep an eye out for this woman. If she is found, she is to be brought to us, dead or alive.”

Murmurs of agreement swept through the hall. 

“Jaehyun you are dismissed from testimony,” BoA finally sighed. The Silent Brother strode forward once more to reclaim the Mortal Sword. Jaehyun stood and made his way to where the members of the Seoul Enclave sat. 

“Now, we must vote on a new head for the Seoul Institute,” Alec sighed, “We have had three nominations, Taeil Moon - the former Clave Representative from Seoul, Taeyong Lee - known for his relationships with Downworlders, and Jungsoo Park - an accomplished Shadowhunter who survived the attack on the Seoul Institute.”

Alec lifted up a small glass vial, “Please cast your votes.” 

The vial made its way throughout the room. Once it made its way back to Alec, he drew a rune on the side. Letters floated up into the sky, a pale smoke that formed the words, “Lee Taeyong”.

“So be it, Taeyong shall be the new head of the Seoul Institute,” Alec stated. 

Next to Jaehyun, Park Jungsoo heaved a great breath of relief, “Oh thank god. I didn’t want to be elected Head simply because I’m the oldest Shadowhunter that’s actually familiar with Korea and can speak the language.”

“Now to vote on a new punishment for Jung Jaehyun as his family’s former punishment was broken,” Alec sighed as if this part of the meeting he had been dreading, “BoA, please.”

“I propose no punishment. The sins of fathers should not be imparted on their children,” she stated. Murmurs of agreement swept through the room. 

“I disagree. His family was punished for a reason!” an older woman stood up. Sarah Penhallow.

“All in favor of punishing Jaehyun, raise your hand,” BoA instructed. 

Sarah Penhallow furiously put her hand in the air, followed by a handful of others. The majority of the room kept their hands in their laps. 

“As the majority votes against punishing Jaehyun, we will dismiss the matter,” Alec said, “As we have no other matters to discuss at this time, you are all dismissed.” 

Jaehyun had never felt so relieved in his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that in the end of QoAaD Diego was in the running for Inquisitor but in this universe, Diego said fuck that shit. So BoA is the Inquisitor which I decided because I thought the position suited her and I didn't want to kill Alec to make her Consul or make Kangta Consul. So in this AU, Kangta died in the Mortal War, sorry. 
> 
> This chapter wasn't originally going to be a Jaehyun-centric chapter but then I decided that I wanted the chapters to alternate from Jaemin-centric to Jaehyun-centric because it worked with the story better. So sorry to everyone for the minor cliffhangers and changes in plot. In addition, sorry to everyone who ends up picking a favourite storyline and is stuck reading through a chapter about the character that they don't really care about. 
> 
> Sarah Penhallow is completely made up. I just came up with a random ass name for that minor role and the Penhallows are mentioned throughout the series so I figured the name was free game.


	4. Questions

“Are you sure that he even lives here still?” Joy asked Yangyang. The two of them stood in front of a modestly sized house on the beach. The house itself was on stilts, as many on the beach were, and had a variety of surfboards on display on the porch. 

“I doubt he’s moved since I’ve lived here,” Yangyang pointed out, “Besides, those are his father’s surfboards.” 

“I’m trusting you on this one,” Joy gave him a look before disappearing to inspect the house. She reappeared a moment later, “He’s not here but Jaehyun’s surfboard is.”

“What?” Yangyang furrowed his brows. 

“Jaehyun’s surfboard is here. It looks like Jaemin found it and brought it back to his house,” Joy shrugged, “If I had to venture a guess, I’d say that they were friends.”

“Well that’s something Jaehyun neglected to mention,” Yangyang muttered. 

“Don’t be bitter,” Joy placed a hand on his shoulder, “You were at the academy and then the Clave stationed you in Germany. There was nothing you could do.” 

“I know that, but he was my best friend. He deserved more than what I gave him, especially after Renjun,” Yangyang’s eyes got misty.

“The faerie?” Joy asked, her eyes shining with curiosity. It was an open secret among the younger shadowhunters in Korea that Joy once had a relationship with Renjun’s older brother, Sicheng. 

“Yeah. He befriended Jaemin as a child and left when they closed up faerie,” Yangyang’s eyes cleared, “Anyways, we’re here for a mission, not for me to reminisce the past and angst over old mistakes.” 

“Should we knock or should we glamour ourselves and search the place?” Joy pulled out her stele. 

It was a well known fact that Joy’s family was blessed by faeries and her stele was proof of that. It had been a gift from Sicheng when she had been a girl and before they dated. Sicheng was able to convince Sister Emilia of the Iron Sisters to help him make the stele for her. It was shorter than most, being roughly the size of a makeup brush or pen with a grip made from faerie metal with the blood of an angel placed in a gem at the end of the stele. 

“Why are you asking me? You’re more experienced than me,” Yangyang looked at her incredulously.

“This has more to do with you than with me. This is a personal matter, if you want to knock and talk with him rather than snoop around, I will respect that,” Joy shrugged, “Besides, we may not learn everything that we need by snooping around. We may have to talk with him eventually and vice versa.” 

“Then I guess we knock,” Yangyang started up the steps to the house with Joy following close behind. 

“Then I guess we knock,” Joy echoed, following him, putting her stele back into her pocket. 

The door swung open before Yangyang had the chance to knock.

“Done lurking around like a bunch of stalkers?” Jaemin asked, leaning against the doorframe. 

“We weren’t sure if you still lived here,” Joy shrugged, “May we come in?” 

“Are you going to kill me or wipe my memory of Jaehyun?” Jaemin’s voice was teasing but his eyes were serious.

“No, we just have some questions,” Joy smiled at him. 

“Then by all means, come on in,” Jaemin stepped aside to let them enter. 

In the years since Yangyang had last been here, the house had barely changed. The biggest difference being the lack of flowers that he used to remember seeing in vases all around the house and fresh baked goods in the kitchen. 

“Where are your parents?” Yangyang asked, nudging off his shoes, “Are they at the shop?”

“Yeah,” Jaemin gave a half-hearted shrug, “Business has been good lately.”

“That’s good,” Yangyang smiled.

“So what do you guys want?” Jaemin led them to the living room, “Er, do you guys want anything to drink? We have water and gatorade and milk.”

“I’m good, thanks,” Joy took a seat on the plush black couch. 

“I’m good as well,” Yangyang sat down next to her. 

Jaemin nodded and took a seat on the large plush reading chair that Yangyang vaguely remembered Jaemin’s dad sitting in and reading to them as they cuddled into either side of him. 

“So how can I help you?” Jaemin’s voice was exceedingly polite and Yangyang had the suspicion that it had something to do with his presence. 

“How close are you and Jaehyun?” Joy immediately started. Yangyang facepalmed. Of course shadowhunters had no qualms about immediately questioning random teenage boys. 

“We were pretty close. We never really talked or anything until he had graduated. We surfed together and it was well known that I am Jaehyun’s favourite dongsaeng on the island. He keeps an eye out for me and taught me how to surf,” Jaemin’s smile was reminiscent, “He’s my favourite hyung.”

Joy’s eyes softened, “I’ll tell him you’re doing well and that you miss him. He would be here right now if it wasn’t for the circumstances.”

“Thank you,” Jaemin’s smile was genuine this time. 

“We also have to ask you how much you know,” Yangyang stated, hoping that Jaemin would understand. 

“How much I know?” 

“You know, about the Shadow World?” Yangyang willed Jaemin to understand what he was talking about. 

“The Shadow World?”

“Renjun? Me and my delusions?” Yangyang tried not to allow his annoyance show. He had forgotten how much of an idiot Jaemin is. 

Jaemin’s stare was blank. 

“You’re an idiot,” Yangyang sighed. 

“I know. Jaehyun was kind enough not to say it though,” Jaemin glared. 

“That’s because Jaehyun is just as big of an idiot,” Joy pointed out.

“Fair enough. I should’ve seen that one coming,” Jaemin laughed good naturedly. 

“Okay, next question, what do you know about Jaehyun’s disappearance?” Joy quickly changed the subject before Jaemin started to ask questions. 

“Nothing really. He didn’t show up to our meetup spot so I tried texting him. When he didn’t respond, I called him. After a while I went out by myself, when I came back from my first wave I noticed Jaehyun’s surfboard discarded in the sand so I went to his house to see if something happened to find it a pile of ashes,” Jaemin said, “Why are you asking me all these questions?” 

Joy and Yangyang exchanged glances. 

“That depends, do you want to see this world for what it truly is or would rather remain in blissful ignorance?” Joy asked, “You can take your time answering. Remember, once you know, you can never forget and you can never go back.” 

Jaemin took a deep breath, “Of course I want to know. Doesn’t everyone want to know the truth?” 

“One would think,” Joy agreed, “but in this case, the truth is a very dangerous thing. Something that often gets people killed.” 

Jaemin paled but stood by his decision, “I think I would still like to know if it involves my friends and the reason why they all seem to leave me for this world. You’re looking into the disappearance of Jaehyun, Yangyang is here with you, and you mentioned Renjun. I think I deserve the truth about them and why they disappeared from my life.” 

Yangyang looked alarmed, “You said all your friends have left you, what happened to Donghyuck?”

“He ran away to Seoul after a freak wolf attack when he went on a trip to Busan to visit some family,” Jaemin shrugged. Yangyang and Joy exchanged an alarmed glance. 

“By the Angel,” Joy breathed out after a long moment of silence, “You really have lost all of your friends to my world.” 

Joy looked devastated by the revelation of how much pain the Shadow World caused Jaemin without him even knowing. Yangyang knew, just by looking at the resolute expression in her eyes, that even if he protested, she would tell Jaemin about the Shadow World. 

Yangyang couldn’t stand to watch as Jaemin’s ignorance was lost. He stood up. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

Jaemin looked up at him, bewildered, “It’s in the same place, you remember where right?” 

“Yeah,” Yangyang made his way towards the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear that Yangyang had a bigger role originally and Joy's role was minor and limited to a mere cameo but then an idea for her character came to mind and I ran away with it. Now I feel like Joy has kind of stolen the spotlight a bit. Also if anyone can't tell, I am Joy biased in Red Velvet and she is my ult.


	5. Family

Jaehyun knew he had few friends, few allies, in the Clave. His grandfather had many. That was why despite his grandfather’s crimes, he was let off relatively easy. Now, only two generations, many of those allies are gone. 

At least, those among shadowhunters. 

Due to the severe lack of Korean shadowhunters and shadowhunters that knew Korean, Jaehyun had been allowed back to Korea to reside in the Seoul Institute, albeit reluctantly. With the change in leadership and the need for Downworld allies, Jaehyun had been tasked with reaching out to old ties, family long forgotten, in the hopes of maintaining Korea’s balance. As such, Jaehyun was strolling through the streets of Seoul towards Gangnam. 

Despite being backwards in many ways, Korea did have one extremely large perk, the government knew about the Shadow World and allowed for certain properties to be reserved for specific purposes in return for a strict policy on Downworlders and cooperation with Shadowhunters. As such, all supernatural matters were handled by Shadowhunters and Downworlders. Downworlders themselves were extremely cooperative in Korea for the sole reason of keeping the peace. With the borders closed due to the war with the North, everything in the Shadow World was, for all intents and purposes, on lock down. No one came in and no one left without notifying the Enclave. And Doyoung, the head of all Korean vampires (despite them apparently having a democracy) kept a strict hold on the number of vampires allowed in Korea at one time. 

Doyoung was easy enough to find and Doyoung knew where every single vampire in Korea was at any given time, thus Jaehyun’s reason for seeking him out. 

Doyoung’s clan was situated in Gangnam in a large “apartment building” where most of the vampires in Korea lived. He knew that the people he was looking for would be there and if not, then Doyoung would know where to find them. 

Doyoung’s building was very inconspicuous, with a cute little cafe on the bottom floor. Of course, the cafe was a Shadow World haunt where even Shadowhunters were allowed to come for a cup of coffee in between patrols. 

“I would like a Count and a red velvet cupcake,” Jaehyun winked at the werewolf girl barista at Kim’s Cafe and Bakery. 

“Of course, would you like sprinkles on the cupcake?” the werewolf girl asked, her hand moving underneath the counter where a button sat, waiting to be pressed. 

“Oh, no need,” Jaehyun smiled. The werewolf girl smiled back and pressed the button once. 

“That will be right up sir. Table 11,” she winked and he strolled to the table that had a small number 11 etched into the leg. 

Jaehyun only had to wait three minutes before Doyoung appeared. 

“Shadowhunter,” Doyoung acknowledged, sitting down across from him. Doyoung was characteristically dressed in a full suit, looking like the CEO of a major company rather than the head of Korea’s vampire clan. 

“Kim Doyoung,” Jaehyun greeted, “I know you are on good terms with Taeyong already but he sent me to affirm your allegiance to him as the new Head of the Seoul Institute.” 

“Of course,” Doyoung nodded, “We have been on good terms for quite some time now and I don’t plan on ruining that anytime soon.” 

“Good. Now that the official business is out of the way, I’m here for my own reasons as well,” Jaehyun stated.

“I know,” Doyoung smiled. Jaehyun was immediately struck by his resemblance to a bunny. 

“You...know?” Jaehyun faltered.

“I know,” Doyoung mused, “You’re here to meet your grandmother and great aunt.” 

Jaehyun stared. 

“How did you-” Jaehyun started.

“Know?” Doyoung smirked, “You bear quite the resemblance to the rest of your family. Not physically but in the way you carry yourself.” 

“Will they meet with me?” Jaehyun asked, “If they don’t want to, that’s completely alright.”

“Of course. They are on their way from a shopping trip right now. They should be here any second,” Doyoung checked the extremely expensive watch on his left wrist. 

The door to the cafe flew open and two women entered, overloaded with bags labelled Gucci, Michael Kors, Prada, Chanel. 

“And here they are,” Doyoung announced, “I’ll leave you three for the family reunion. And if I’m right, Yunho should be right behind them with even more bags.” 

After a moment Doyoung’s prediction came true and Jung Yumho came in with even more bags. 

“Ah, Jaehyunnie!” one of the women grinned and wrapped him in a huge hug before lifting him up, “The last time I saw you, you were a little baby!”

An onlooker in the cafe gasped in amazement as this skinny five foot five woman in a pair of wicked stilettos lifted a grown ass six foot tall man that clearly worked out. 

“Hi Auntie Krystal,” Jaehyun managed to gasp out, not wanting the mundanes to know that this woman who looked only a little bit older than himself was actually his grandmother. 

“He’s clearly a Jung!” Yunho declared after getting a good look at him, “He’s inherited our good looks!”

“Yunho, you’re my son and I love you but you are an idiot,” Jessica declared. Krystal laughed. 

“I personally think that Jaehyun ought to marry a mundane, one of you ought to date warlock and the other date a faerie and I can date another werewolf,” Yunho said.

“Why hyung?” Jaehyun asked, curious. 

“So that way we’ll have the whole set!” Yunho grinned like the village idiot.

“That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Krystal facepalmed. 

“Um, Yunho-hyung, not to be rude or anything but why exactly are you here?” Jaehyun asked, “Shouldn’t you be with your pack somewhere?”

“Eh,” Yunho shrugged, “I wanted to meet the last shadowhunter Jung. Honestly we should start placing bets on which downworlder gets to him first.”

“We will do no such thing!” Jessica whacked her son upside the head.

“Come on mom, we’re going six out of seven right now based on your generation onward! It’s only a matter of time!” Yunho pointed out. 

Yunho was, naturally, right about the generations. Jessica and Krystal were both killed by vampires, it just so happens that the pair returned from the grave as vampires. Jessica’s husband was killed by a rogue warlock who was later killed by Jessica in an act of revenge. Yunho was attacked by werewolves and ended up turning while Jaehyun’s parents were killed by faeries during the Dark War. The only member of the family to not die by the hands of downworlders in recent memories was Jaehyun’s grandfather, Kyrstal’s husband, who died fighting the demon Marbas. 

“We are not taking bets on which downworlder takes Jaehyun,” Jessica’s voice was stern. 

“Fine,” Yunho sighed, “I’ll have Changminnie take care of him.” 

Shim Changmin was Yunho’s parabatai before he got turned into a werewolf. They were still on good terms and when they fought together, Jaehyun was amazed to see how well they worked together even with the lack of parabatai bond between them. Jaehyun once nearly had a parabatai himself, Joy. Unfortunately, it never happened and now he was too old to undergo the rituals. 

“About that,” Jaehyun started, “the Clave lifted my banishment to Jeju now that the Portal is gone.” 

“That’s great!” Krystak’s fangs flashed when she smiled, “Now we can keep an eye on you!”

“Yeah, except I don’t have any allies in the Clave and none with any Downworlders,” Jaehyun pointed out, “If they do reinstate the banishment, there’s no one to speak up to help me out.”

The three of them exchanged glances. 

“Well you obviously have us as allies but I don’t really think we count,” Jessica mused. 

“Doyoung seems to like you and if Doyoung likes you then he’ll back you along with Ten and Kun,” Krystal added, “We don’t know any faeries that well though.” 

“In the Clave you have Changminie and with Changminie comes Kyuhyun and Junmyeon. Oh and Minho but he’s a wolf,” Yunho stated helpfully, “I can also call Heechul and Donghae, they’ll help you. As well as Hyukjae I suppose, I’m kind of shocked that he and Donghae haven’t become True Nephilim myself. One would think.”

Krystal nodded, “I remember meeting them once and mistaking them for a couple.” 

“Wait, Donghae and Hyukjae  _ like _ each other?” Jaehyun had never realized. 

“It’s pretty obvious.” 

Krystal had taken to petting Jaehyun’s hair and all but pulled him into her lap.

“Krys, don’t suffocate the baby!” Jessica scolded.

“I can’t help it! He’s my grandbaby!” Krystal exclaimed and cradled Jaehyun’s head to her chest. 

Jaehyun mentally prepared himself for a long family reunion. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Totally a filler, sorry guys.
> 
> Hope y'all are staying safe and healthy!


	6. Answers

Once Yangyang was out of earshot, Joy started. 

“Thousands of years ago, the Greater Demon Sammael caused the Great Rift, opening up doors between worlds. Ever since, our world has been invaded by creatures that we call demons. They come from other dimensions and seek to suck the life from ours. They cannot create, only destroy,” Joy explained. 

Jaemin sucked in a breath.

“Our world is not only our home. The Fair Folk exist and have walked upon this earth far longer than we have. They cannot lie and hate iron. They live in nature, loyalty tied to one of two courts, the Seelie Court and Unseelie Court. Both are tricksters and are incredibly dangerous,” Joy hesitated before, “Your friend Renjun is a Fair Folk of the Unseelie Court. One of the brothers of the current Unseelie King.”

“Demons that couple with humans, typically through rape, produce children called warlocks. They are magic users and immensely powerful beings. They are immortal and are identifiable by a warlock’s mark that marks them as nonhuman,” Joy glanced at Jaemin to make sure he was following.

“Vampires and werewolves are also of this world. They are humans that have been infected by a demonic disease. Vampires are undead and depend on blood to survive, they also cannot stand the sunlight. Werewolves still live and die but are forced to turn on the full moon,” Joy stated, “Donghyuck was bitten by a werewolf, he turned and is now a member of the pack that resides in Seoul.”

“Are they okay?” Jaemin suddenly asked, “Renjun and Donghyuck I mean.”

“They are fine, Jaemin. Donghyuck has a boyfriend named Mark in the pack and Renjun is the younger brother of a friend of mine named Sicheng. They’re both doing alright,” Joy assured Jaemin but the boy still frowned. “I’m sure they both miss you.”

“Tell me about what you guys are,” Jaemin demanded, ignoring her comment. 

“Yangyang and I are shadowhunters. We keep the peace between the Shadow World and mundan world. We hunt demons and keep peace between Downworlders. We have a special peace treaty, called the Accords, that protect Downworlders and keep peace among the Downworld. Our mandate is to protect humankind,” Joy shrugged, “The angel Raziel created us, his blood runs through our veins.”

“And Jaehyun?”

“He’s a shadowhunter, too,” Joy confirmed, “He was the protector of Jeju Island and Guardian of the Portal.”

“Portal? And why was he the only one of you lot here?” Jaemin asked.

“A Portal is a magical means of transportation to anywhere in the world almost instantaneously. As for Jaehyun, his family was banished here. When his grandfather passed away, his punishment was left to Jaehyun’s father and his wife. When his parents passed, their punishment was left to him. There’s not much to protect here on Jeju though.”

“What do you-” Jaemin began to ask but stopped at the look on Joy’s face.

“I’ve already told you too much,” Joy said, “I can’t afford to tell you much else.”

Jaemin was about to protest when he heard a loud voice yell out, “Uriel.”

“What-” Joy stood up, a seraph blade appearing in her hand.

Jaemin followed suit, startled and confused.

“JOY!”

Instead of going to the bathroom like he said he would, Yangyang investigated. He snuck into Jaemin’s parent’s room first. Unlike when he was little, it was void of life. The vanity that was once covered in makeup and jewelry now only held jewelry and dust. The bottom half of the closet, Jaemin’s mom’s half, was empty. Only one side of the bed unmade, the other half unslept in.

“Oh, Jaemin,” he muttered to himself, his heart breaking a little bit inside. He lost all of his friends and his mother. 

Yangyang continued to snoop, finding a false back in the closet.

“What the hell,” Yangyang opened up the false back to find a room that certainly did not fit inside of Jaemin’s home. 

“Dimensional magic? But why?” Yangyang looked around the room. There was a large bed in the center of the room and an ensuite bathroom. He found condoms and lube in one bedside table and a variety of sex toys in the other.

“What the actual fuck?” Yangyang asked out loud. This shit just kept getting weirder and weirder. 

Yangyang opened up the closet before immediately shutting it.

“I wish I could bleach my eyes and memory right now,” he said before continuing his investigation.

“I swear to god, if I find anything else even remotely sex related, I’m leaving,” Yangyang muttered before checking under the bed. 

Underneath the bed was a large tub. Yangyang pulled it out to find a bunch of pictures and letters between Jaemin’s father and a woman named Ariel. In one of the pictures he picked up, Jaemin’s father stood smiling with his arms around a pregnant woman that was not Jaemin’s mother. This woman was tall with blonde hair that looked like liquid gold in the sunlight. They were on the beach and clearly happy. 

Yangyang swore, taking the picture and putting it in his pocket. He closed the tub and put it back under the bed before retreating from the room. 

He quickly left Jaemin’s father’s room with a vow to never return and let someone else investigate it. 

The next room he investigated was Jaemin’s. Jaemin’s room was always immaculate and now was no different from when they were little. His bed was made, his laundry hamper nearly empty and all clothing neatly put away. But that wasn’t what made him falter. What made him falter was the woman in the room, in front of Jaemin’s desk and holding a picture frame. 

She was the woman in the pictures. 

“Hello little nephilim,” she greeted, putting the picture frame back down gently. It was the same picture that he and Joy found earlier. 

“Who are you? What do you want?” Yangyang asked, grabbing a seraph blade. 

“It took me a long time to find this place, you know,” she gestured at the room around her, “It’s a lot different being in this dimension rather than the pocket I found for myself trapped in.”

“Who are you?” Yangyang pressed.

“I am Ariel,” the woman stated, “and I have come for Jaemin.” 

“Then you can’t have him,” Yangyang glared, “He’s not yours to take.”

The woman’s soft demeanor changed and she snarled, “He’s mine!”

“Uriel!” Yangyang cried out, readying himself to fight.

“Your angel blades cannot hurt me!” she laughed and suddenly Yangyang was reminded of the conversation between Jaehyun and the Consul. 

_ “Her skin was tanned and her hair a brilliant gold.” _

This was the woman who had attacked Jaehyun.

_ Fuck. _

“JOY!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to anyone who has read/watched anything Shadowhunters for the background but I wanted anyone who hasn't watched the show or read any of the books to understand what is going on. 
> 
> A/N:  
> I have plans to (hopefully) finish all of my NCT stories that I have started and actually invested myself into sometime within the next year.   
> For more than a decade I have dedicated myself to a variety of fandoms and over the past decade I have been fairly dedicated to K-pop and over the past two years I have been extremely dedicated to NCT. However, I've found that I no longer have the time and energy to keep up with the fandom (both K-pop and NCT) anymore and that I need a break.   
> So I decided that I am going to finish my two NCT AU's (Cypher and Jeju Island) and then go on a hiatus with uncertain plans for return.


	7. The Institute

When Jaehyun returned to the Institute it was just barely light out. As he passed through the halls, he found no one there. He made his way to Taeyong’s office where he knew the elder would be, wondering where everyone had disappeared to. 

Inside Taeyong’s office, he found not just Taeyong but Yangyang and Joy who must have finally returned from their Jeju mission with-

“Jaehyun!” Jaemin perked up at the sight of his friend, wrapped up in a blanket on the couch. His hair was wet and messy and there was a cut on his cheek.

“What happened to you?” Jaehyun all but pounced on the younger boy, dragging him up and removing the blanket to check for further injuries. 

“I’m fine. Yangyang and Joy took most of the damage, not me,” Jaemin assured him.

Jaehyun continued to check for injuries anyways. 

“You’re back,” Taeyong acknowledged, “You can debrief after these three explain.”

“What did you do?” Jaehyun asked, glaring at Jaemin.

“I didn’t do anything!” Jaemin exclaimed, “It was all them!”

“No it wasn’t!” Yangyang protested.

“It was all that blonde chick,” Joy stated.

“Ok, back up,” Jaehyun paused, “WHAT?!”

“So Yangyang and I went back to Jeju to investigate Jaemin because of that photograph, right?” Joy started.

This wasn’t news to anyone in the room aside from maybe Jaemin. After reporting back to the Clave and returning the Seraph Blade to the Iron Sisters, the pair were sent back to Jeju Island to investigate Jaemin and the photograph as well as see if they could find any trace of the blonde woman.

“Well we went to Jaemin’s house to talk to him, you know, get some of his perspective,” Yangyang shrugged, “and found that Jaemin knew jack shit.”

Jaehyun sighed. As much as he loved the younger, he was dumb as fuck.

“So Yangyang searched the house a bit,” Joy continued, “And I talked to him some more, talked to him about the Shadow World and everything when I suddenly heard Yangyang scream.” 

“I searched Jaemin’s dad’s room and Jaemin’s room. In Mr. Na’s closet, I found a false wall. I opened it and found a pocket dimension. It was quite weird honestly. A bedroom with all sorts of, well, sex toys and shit. But under the bed I found something a little more interesting. There was a box full of love letters and shit between Jaemin’s dad and some woman named Ariel,” Yangyang explained, “Here, I took a picture.”

Yangyang passed the picture to Taeyong who handed it to Jaehyun, “Is she familiar to you?”

“Yeah, that’s the woman who attacked me and the Institute,” Jaehyun nodded, “Just, you know, not pregnant.” 

“Yeah, and then I left the pocket dimension and went in Jaemin's room and found her standing there holding a copy of the picture we found before. Except she blacked out Jaehyun’s face, sorry about that by the way,” Yangyang blabbered on, “And then she got all crazy and said that Jaemin was hers and she wanted him back before attacking.” 

“Did your seraph blades work against her?” Taeyong asked.

“No, why else would we call for backup?” Joy spat, “She took them like they were normal fucking weapons, as if we were fighting her with a normal sword or some shit.”

“She was strong too, put me through the fucking wall,” Yangyang grumbled. 

“She was after Jaemin though,” Joy pointed out, “If you weren’t in the way-”

“Yeah, so she could kidnap him or some shit? So she could take him to do who knows what with? No way in hell,” Yangyang snarled.

“Yeah, well instead we  _ both _ got a nice lovely dip in the ocean,” Jaemin remarked.

Jaehyun hadn’t even noticed that Yangyang was wet as well and covered in a blanket. Beside him, Taeyong sighed.

“What happened next?” he interrupted before a fight could break out.

“Well easy, reinforcements arrived, Joy fought brilliantly, as always, and I attempted to not get eaten by a fucking shark while Jaemin laughed and yelled out advice,” Yangyang finished. 

“You were attacked by a shark?” Jaehyun asked, amused.

“Yes I was attacked by a shark? It was scary!” Yangyang defended himself. Jaehyun looked at Jaemin.

_ ‘It wasn’t a shark,’ _ the other mouthed. Taeyong shook his head. 

“Well, I’ll be sending this,” Taeyong held up the picture, “To the Clave. In the meantime, wash up. You smell like sharkbait. Jaemin, Jaehyun, stay behind please.”

Yangyang immediately started to protest as Joy led him out of the room by his ear. 

“Jaemin, I would like to offer you sanctuary here for the time being. I know that you still have a home, albeit a little destroyed right now, but I would like to offer you the safety of the Institute for the time being,” Taeyong offered.

“Would I be safe here? If that woman entered here before...” Jaemin trailed off.

“It would be safer here than at your house. She knows where you live and you have no protection. Here there are trained warriors who can help defend you as necessary and even train you if you want,” Taeyong gestured at Jaehyun, “The choice is up to you.”

“Then I would like to stay,” Jaemin stated firmly. 

“Great, then you can have the room next to Jaehyun. He’ll show you after he debriefs his mission to me,” Taeyong smiled. 

“Thank you,” Jaemin bowed, “Should I leave?” 

“No, Jaehyun’s mission, though a big one, isn’t confidential,” Taeyong gestured for Jaehyun to speak.

“Both Johnny and Doyoung have affirmed their position with you. Johnny said that his pack and the packs across Korea are all in agreement in working with you and Doyoung said that he has no intentions to risk his clan and vampire-shadowhunter relations anytime soon,” Jaehyun reported, “Kun is still Kun. He has a new companion, a young warlock named Chenle that he’s teaching. Said that even if he wanted to oppose you, which he doesn’t because you are one of the few shadowhunters that actually care about Downworlders, he has his hands full Chenle and wouldn’t have the time.” 

“Well that’s good to hear. I should probably write to Kun and wish him luck with Chenle though,” Taeyong tilted his head in thought, “well, you’re dismissed. Have a nice night Jaehyun and welcome to the Institute Jaemin.” 

“Come on, I’ll show you your room,” Jaehyun held out his hand for Jaemin, “I’ll lend you some clothes too. Those look a little wet.”

“Well an unexpected dip in the ocean will do that to a fella, you know,” Jaemin grinned.

Jaehyun grinned back. He had always been fond of the brat. 

“So what attacked Yangyang anyways?” 

“It was Lami,” Jaemin chuckled. Lami was a friendly whale that Jaemin and Jaehyun had encountered multiple times on their surfing trips. They met her so many times that they decided to name her Lami and would feed her occasionally. 

“He doesn’t know the difference between a whale and shark,” Jaehyun deadpanned.

“Nope, not a clue. It was funny though,” Jaemin laughed, “All she wanted was pets.”

A couple rooms away in the Institute, Yangyang sneezed in the shower.

“Either someone’s talking shit or I got a cold from being in the ocean, either way, it’s Jaemin’s fault!” he cursed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short break. Finals kicked my ass this semester because of Covid. Anyways, I hope everyone is safe and healthy, if not, I hope things get better for you soon. 
> 
> This chapter kind of brings everything together and puts them on the same timeline but I plan to continue the alternating point of view thing that I have been doing. This chapter was a slight filler because I didn't anticipate that Jaemin's short arc would need another chapter compared to Jaehyun's. Now the two arcs are going to combine more, and, hopefully, bring me to the part where I want them to divide again properly.


	8. Attack

Being in the Institute made Jaemin feel as if he was acting in a historical K-drama. The Institute was built like an old Korean palace and had all the scenery of one. Ponds existed all over the Institute, with an extremely notable pond being filled with lotus flowers. Some ponds were large enough to swim in (a fact many of the younger shadowhunters took advantage of), while others were clearly for decoration only. Joy told him that many of the more decorative ponds were once home to many Fair Folk who protected the Institute until the Cold Peace. Due to the large number of ponds, bridges and floating pathways made up a majority of walkable land to each building. 

Many of the training fields and gardens in the Institute were floating gardens and fields. There were a couple that were on solid ground but the majority floated in one of the many ponds of the Institute. Yangyang informed him that there were advantages that came from having them train on floating gardens. Shadowhunters from the Seoul Institute were able to fight on moving terrain with ease and have an easy time transitioning to fights.

Many of the buildings in the Institute were built on legs, standing in the water. Only a handful were not, buildings holding important artifacts were often hidden  _ under _ the ponds. The library pavilion and the building with Taeyong’s office were both built on solid land so that if the building collapsed, all the papers would not be lost to the water, ink diluting illegibly and paper disintegrating.

Jaemin found that the library where he spent his mornings studying with Jaehyun was filled with books of all kinds. He even found a collection of books in one portion that he quickly realized were original copies of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, including portions that were completely lost to history. Jaehyun made use of the large collection of books to teach him about the Shadow World and force him to learn how to read Chinese. 

Afternoons were spent wandering the courtyards and swimming in some of the larger ponds. It was this way that he discovered new parts of the Institute. He also used his afternoons to begin the more menial portion of his training, running laps to boost his stamina and endurance and improve his speed, doing pushups and other strength building exercises while also ensuring that he had enough stamina to last in a long fight. It was better for him to do those exercises in his afternoons, lest he take time away from actual training. 

Evenings were spent training. Joy oversaw his training with occasional input from the Institute’s tutor, Sunny, and from her best friend Seulgi. Both of the other women liked to see him struggle but Joy had told him that Sunny was pleased with his fast progress. Training with Joy was a force to be reckoned with. For the most part, she took care of all of his training personally. Aside from sword training (which Yangyang oversaw) she took care of the rest and even taught him how to use her specialty weapons, two fans. 

Joy’s fans were a pair that had been passed down in her family for generations. The skeleton of each fan was made of electrum plated steel with small blades that came out at the press of a button at the pivot making them strong and sturdy but also deceptively heavy. The leaf of the fan was made of a particularly strong fabric, with silver and gold weaved in. At first, Jaemin had been skeptical of the fans and how strong they were until he saw Yangyang throw a dagger at her only for Joy to stop it using the folds of the fan and throw it back in one smooth motion. 

Joy only taught him the basics, how to stop a blade coming at him and how to throw it back with force and accuracy, after he was able to hold her fans for more than two hours straight. Much to his amazement, Joy walked around with both fans all day long, typically with one in her hand being used as an actual fan and the other hidden in her sleeve. The rest of his training with Joy revolved around hand to hand combat and daggers while Yangyang tortured him with sword training. 

Nearly three months passed in this fashion and Jaemin was proud of his own progress. He could now wield Joy’s fans with enough precision to hit a target more than 50 yards away and it only took Yangyang 7 minutes to beat him instead of 30 seconds. After a lifetime of thinking of himself as fit and active, he quickly realized that he wasn’t as athletic as he thought he was. He was now the buffest (and happiest) he’s ever been.

“Okay nerds, listen up,” Joy had now taken on 3 other kids who were struggling with their training to work with, “Seraph blades are lethal weapons. They burn with heavenly fire when we name them.”

Jaemin and Joy’s other three students, Hyunjin, Jisung, and Felix, stood lined up at attention. Joy paced back and forth in front of them in gear, twirling a seraph blade around. 

“If you stab anyone with one, they will burn up from the inside with heavenly fire. Not even another Shadowhunter can survive being stabbed with one of these,” Joy made a point by naming the seraph blade Uriel and stabbing a dummy with it. The dummy started to smolder and burst into flames seconds later, “Only two shadowhunters are known to have survived heavenly fire burning through their veins. Jace Herondale has an excess of angel blood in his veins, allowing him to survive. James Carstairs was a Silent Brother and only had a drop of heavenly fire burning through him. Both had protections against it, so I do not recommend attempting to stab someone with a seraph blade.”

“Because of the angel blood in our veins, we are able to wield seraph blades for short periods of time. Without it, we would die. The presence of runes on our skin,  _ angelic power, _ allows us to wield them for longer periods of time and wield multiple at once. As such, I don’t recommend attempting to wield these, Jaemin,” Joy let the light die out from the seraph blade before disposing of it.

“These weapons are wielded similarly to daggers. That is why I’ve been drilling you in how to fight using daggers for so long,” Joy demonstrated a couple of movements similar to those that they had been practicing for the past couple of weeks. Before she had the chance to continue, a resounding boom shook the training yard. An explosion, Jaemin quickly realized. 

Joy immediately picked a defensive pose, the seraph blades in her hands posed to block a surprise attack should one come. Hyunjin, Jisung, and Felix quickly adopted similar poses, picking up different weapons of their own to fight with. Jaemin adopted a seemingly unassuming pose of his own, a fan in his right hand, posed in what appeared to be an innocent way but was actually easily adaptable to protect his vital points if necessary. 

The five of them stood warily, facing the direction the explosion came from, waiting. After a moment they heard the sounds of fighting approaching them. Joy and Hyunjin immediately jumped into action, leaping forward to defend their fellow shadowhunters. Jisung and Felix stood back, ready to defend Jaemin should it be necessary or to distract Ariel long enough for Jaemin to escape.

Seconds after they approached, Joy came flying back into the yard. She used her momentum to flip do a back handspring, landing lightly on her feet. She was followed by the tall figure of a man, tall and lean with broad shoulders. She leapt forward to attack again when the man stepped forward into the light, allowing Jaemin to see his face for the first time.

“Dad?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update.
> 
> Someone spilled water on my laptop and now two of the keys don't work (the enter key and left arrow key). As such, I've been using my laptop in tablet mode in order to write which puts a slight strain on my hands until I get used to it.
> 
> Anyways, catch me throwing Stray Kids in here for literally no reason and basing the Seoul Institute on Lotus Pier from the Untamed. The Joy wielding fans idea originally came from the Untamed, too ngl. Originally she was only going to have one like Nie Huisang but then I was watching Avatar: the Last Airbender on Netflix and decided to give her two like Kyoshi.


	9. The Sanctuary

“Dad?” Jaemin asked in disbelief. Jaemin’s father stood in front of him with a gun holstered at his hip and a sword in hand. 

Joy haltered, her blade a mere inch away from his throat, “Dad?!”

“Jaemin, get away from those demons immediately!” Jaemin’s father snapped at him, eying the blade aimed to behead him should he make a wrong move.

“These people aren’t demons,” Jaemin stayed where he was behind Felix and Jisung, readying his own blade.

“They kidnapped you,” Jaemin’s father retorted, “Get your ass over here, now!”

“They did nothing wrong,” Jaemin’s voice raised slightly, “They saved me and protected me when you didn’t.”

“What I did or didn’t do doesn’t matter. You’re my son and you’ll do what I say!” annoyance made its way into Na Daehyung’s voice. 

“I’m a legal adult, I don’t have to listen to you,” Jaemin’s voice grew tight with anger, “You never cared about me before, why start now?”

He turned away from Jaemin, “With Ariel gone, you’re the only one left in my family.”

Jaemin felt himself give in just a little before quickly realizing, “You’re lying.”

Na Daehyung was an awful liar and it was always revealed in his face. Everytime he lied to someone, he turned away from them.

“Ariel is still alive,” Joy deadpanned.

“You’re a lying bitch,” he snarled at Joy who pressed her sword to his neck, just enough to break skin. 

“She’s alive and out there somewhere. She’s attacked your son multiple times now,” Joy stated, still prepared to kill him if necessary. A thin trickle of blood made its way down Daehyung’s neck.

“Impossible,” Daehyung breathed out, “You nephilim are the ones who have attacked and kidnapped my son! You destroyed my home!”

“What? You mean protecting him and offering him asylum after  _ Ariel _ attacked his home?” Joy scoffed. She signaled something to Felix who took out his stele and drew a quick rune in the air. 

“Why would Ariel attack her family?” Daehyung asked, “What did you just do?”

A flare went up into the air as Joy used the butt of her blade to knock him out.

Jaehyun appeared seconds later with four swords. He tossed two to Jisung, “We’re putting him into a Malachi Configuration for now.”

Jisung nodded and they quickly got to work, setting up the swords at each of the four cardinal points and drawing elaborate runes on the ground. 

“We have a situation.” he stated once they finished, “Taeyong’s already called the Silent Brothers to deal with him.” He motioned the Daehyung in the Malachi Configuration. “In the meantime, reinforcements are needed in Beijing and Doyoung sent a representative to the Sanctuary to deal with a vampire issue.”

“Beijing?” Joy asked, “What’s in Beijing?”

“Ariel,” Jaehyun answered grimly, “She attacked there the same time Mr. Na attacked here. They have more people than us so they’ve been able to hold strong for now but they need reinforcements and fast.”

“We’ll leave him with the Silent Brothers then,” Joy sighed, “Jaehyun, Felix and Jisung, stay here with Jaemin and defend the Institute if necessary. Hyunjin is up ahead, he took a heavy hit to the leg, it’s likely broken. Attend to the wounded and deal with the vampires.”

Joy took off in the direction of the portal. 

“Who are the Silent Brothers?” Jaemin asked.

“They’re like the Gregori,” Felix answered, “Except on steroids.”

“What does that mean?” Jaemin asked, wary.

“They’re kind of like monks. They’re scholars and archivists but they’re also our jailers and the keepers of our dead and sick. They take on some powerful runes that extend their lives but also cause them to lose their eyes and sew their mouths shut,” Jaehyun elaborated, “They creep most other Shadowhunters out and they’re almost otherworldly in the way they move. Completely silent and graceful but lithe.”

“Oh,” the picture in Jaemin’s mind was not pretty.

“Like I said, steroids,” Felix shrugged, “They take on the most powerful runes to become something a little more than human. 

“Is it a willing thing or do they get chosen?” Jaemin wondered.

“Willing. If you aren’t willing, the runes can kill you. Most Silent Brothers join willingly as they have to take on the runes. Only a couple of shadowhunters have joined by force, pressure or otherwise. Only one of them survived the taking of the runes,” Jisung answered.

“Who?” Jaemin asked.

“James Carstairs,” Jisung answered, “Becoming a Silent Brother was the only way for him to live. He took on the runes willingly in the last minutes of his life but if he had a choice, he never would have even considered it. He had a fiancée and a parabatai before becoming one.”

“That sucks,” Jaemin responded, “Whatever happened to them?”

“That’s a long, complicated story,” Jaehyun shrugged, “He’s no longer a Silent Brother and he and his fiancée are married now with a whole ass kid.”

Jaemin’s alarmed face must have looked particularly funny because all three of his companions laughed.

“He married Tessa Gray,” Felix told him.

That made sense. Tessa Gray happened to be a special type of warlock, the daughter of an unmarked Shadowhunter and a Greater Demon. She was immortal and could do some magic but also had a shapeshifting ability and was able to have kids. 

“Jisung, Felix, think you can help round up the wounded?” Jaehyun asked. 

The other two nodded. 

“Yeah, we should be fine. Besides, Felix draws some of the best  _ iratzes _ ,” Jisung nudged Felix.

“We’ll be fine,” Felix assured, “So long as no one’s dying.”

“Alright, Jaemin, come with me.” Jaehyun led him to a building he’d never seen before on the outskirts of the Institute.

“This is the Sanctuary. The only part of the Institute not built on Hallowed Ground. We meet Downworlders here out of courtesy and because most vampires can’t step foot on Hallowed Ground,” Jaehyun explained, “It’s also the easiest part of the Institute to defend in the case of an attack.”

Jaehyun produced a key and opened the Sanctuary door. Inside, a guy around his age stood by the table playing on his phone. He looked up as they approached. 

“Jaehyun,” the guy greeted, “Is Taeyong coming or is he busy?”

“Busy, problems in Beijing,” Jaehyun stated, “Jeno, this is Jaemin. Jaemin, meet Jeno, Doyoung’s second and son.”

Jaemin was vaguely alarmed by that (how could a vampire have a son?) but smiled nonetheless.

“Hi” Jeno flashed an eye smile at him and wow. Just wow.

“Anyways, Doyoung went to go on vacation in Jeju, right?” Jeno started.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun looked wary.

“Well, Doyoung was going on vacation there and also, kind of, you know, lowkey investigating the island. It should be deserted of anything connected to the Shadow World but it’s not. He found the entrances to Faerie open again and a couple of demons in a nightclub,” Jeno’s voice was troubled, “He decided that it was time to come clean to the Shadowhunters because this problem is connected to their  _ bigger _ problem.”

“Jeno, point?” Jaehyun sighed, not the least bit surprised that the Downworlders were keeping secrets from them.

“So powerful demons tend to attract lesser demons, right? They command them like underlings,” Jeno stated, “Well, there’s always been a super powerful demon presence in Jeju, but subtle. Like it wasn’t really there if that makes sense, something was suppressing it. Over the years it grew stronger and instead of flocking to it, all the lesser demons fled, like they couldn’t stand it. As it grew, we watched it warily unsure as to why the demons fled. Soon enough, though, the presence became too strong for even us. It was like it was  _ driving  _ us away. We’ve been alternating with Johnny’s pack for yearly checkups on the island just in case and this is the first year where Doyoung’s been able to step foot on the island and he’s found traces of the Shadow World. He wants a couple of Shadowhunters to cooperate with us in an investigation because he suspects this may have something to do with Ariel.” 

“Well, that’s a problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of things:  
> First, I finally introduced Jeno. I wanted to introduce him like 3 chapters ago but I couldn't so here we are.
> 
> Second, I had plans to finish this story this year. Since then, I've lost a family member, I have two members seriously sick, I nearly lost my brother, and I've also gotten seriously sick. I hope to continue working with this when I have time but my family means a lot to me and I want to spend as much time with them as possible right now as there is a good chance that one of them may not make it through the next year. I'm sorry it has to be this way but I thought that I should at least finish this and let you guys know why I'm not updating. 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy!


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